close
Thursday March 28, 2024

India battle tide of history against Australia

SYDNEY: Defending champions India will hope the law of averages does not catch up with them when they clash with hosts Australia in a widely-anticipated World Cup semi-final in Sydney on Thursday.

India have beaten Australia just once in 35 years in a one-day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground when a Sachin Tendulkar century helped them win the first of

By AFP
March 25, 2015
SYDNEY: Defending champions India will hope the law of averages does not catch up with them when they clash with hosts Australia in a widely-anticipated World Cup semi-final in Sydney on Thursday.

India have beaten Australia just once in 35 years in a one-day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground when a Sachin Tendulkar century helped them win the first of the three-match tri-series final in 2008.

But Mahendra Singh Dhoni´s men have confounded critics by recovering from a winless bilateral tour of Australia before the World Cup to brush aside all-comers in the tournament.

Starting with two wins against Pakistan and South Africa, India won all six group matches to top Pool B and then downed spirited Bangladesh by 109 runs in the quarter-finals.

Amazingly, India have piled up 300-plus scores every time they have batted first and dismissed the opposition in all seven matches so far.

India now confront a side that has won seven of their 10 World Cup meetings against them, although Dhoni´s men secured a five-wicket win in the quarter-final at home in Ahmedabad four years ago.

Four-time champions Australia have won all six semi-finals they have appeared in since the inaugural event in 1975, but India will consider the SCG as the best venue to halt that record.

Groundsman Tom Parker has kept both teams guessing on the nature of the pitch he will unveil for the semi-final, but the wear and tear at the end of a long season indicates spin-friendly conditions.

South African spinners Imran Tahir and JP Duminy shared seven wickets to bowl out Sri Lanka for 133 in the quarter-final at the SCG last week, setting up a nine-wicket win for the Proteas.

But the bat dominated the ball in previous World Cup games at the venue, with Australia piling up 376 for nine against Sri Lanka and South Africa smashing 408 for five off the West Indies´ attack.

With organisers estimating that 70 percent of the tickets have been picked up by Indian fans, Australia would feel as if they were playing an away game on their own soil.

The winner of Thursday´s match will face New Zealand in the final in Melbourne on Sunday. (AFP)